Crystal Palace 0 Newcastle 3: Alan Pardew hails ‘terrific’ Mapgies

A delighted Alan Pardew lavished praise on “terrific” Newcastle United after the Magpies were emphatic winners against Crystal Palace.

Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Magpies the lead before Danny Gabbidon put the ball past his own goalkeeper to double the visitors’ lead.

I’m delighted with the players – they were terrific

Alan Pardew

Pardew’s men cemented three points when Hatem Ben Arfa netted from the penalty spot after Palace defender Jonathan Parr fouled striker Shola Ameobi.

“Not many teams are going to come here and win 3-0,” Pardew told BBC Sport.

“I’m delighted with the players – they were terrific. The key was to control possession and make sure ball didn’t come into our box. It’s not always easy on this pitch and in these conditions.

“[Yohan] Cabaye made a difference. His contribution was important – he gave us the X-Factor. Hatem [Ben Arfa] gave us that. [Fabricio] Coloccini and [Mathieu] Debuchy were immense as was [Cheick] Tiote.

“I don’t put Cabaye above the others. Five wins away says we have good spirit. It’s difficult to break us down and we score goals in open play. We could do a little better on set-plays.”

Meanwhile Palace boss Pulis was critical of his side’s defending against Newcastle.

“We made it tough. We’ve had plaudits over the last couple of weeks but today we were poor. The first two goals were awful.”